The other real player in the tablet market is RIM and its PlayBook--the ugliest of them all. With its stock dropping like a rock, RIM began laying off around 2,000 employees, or 10.5 percent of its work force, this week. Shareholders have put the company's two-CEO structure in their crosshairs.

RIM clings to the hope that its business-heavy customer base will buy PlayBooks, but even this enterprise play has come under siege. During its earnings call, Apple claimed 86 percent of the Fortune 500 are deploying and testing the iPad, up from 74 percent last quarter. Nearly half of the Global 500 are testing or deploying iPads. Indeed, iPads are showing up for work in the .

"RIM has lost complete control over their image, and they are now seen as a declining vendor," Enderle says. "RIM's inability to partner well, coupled with their loss of consumer focus, is killing them in the market. They need to fix both, if they are going to pull out of this dive."

While the iPad isn't unbeatable yet given the tablet's vast potential, the pale rider is getting closer toward total market control. Not only is Apple hitting its strides, tablet rivals are making it easier by stumbling at every turn.

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